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Two particular approaches to this are emerging. Each one worthwhile although a true appraisal and evaluation can only be determined if both are followed.
At the first level firms are increasingly evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing and the two are critically different. The effectiveness of marketing is concerned with what marketing is doing and achieving; put another way it is concerned with whether the right things are being done. In contrast the efficiency of marketing is concerned with how inputs and resources (people, time and money) are converted into outputs and results.
The two sets of questions to be asked of marketing in this respect are straightforward enough:
Are we doing the right things?
and
Are we doing things right?
Answering such questions is more complex.
The starting point for reviewing marketing effectiveness (are we doing the right things?) is in appraising the degree of consistency between the focus of a firm's marketing and its strategic objectives and direction.
A firm that lacks a crisp tangible strategy (which incidentally need not necessarily be written) that is understood by everyone and to which there is a high level of commitment will face an impossible task in appraising its marketing effectiveness. A starting point for appraising marketing is a business strategy that specifies in tangible terms the type of clients being targeted, the range of services being provided, the 'value' range of such services (low, medium or high) and the basis upon which the firm intends to compete. A firm's business plan should be directly driven from this strategy and, in turn, the marketing plan driven by the business plan.
Without this direct linkage it is impossible to evaluate objectively the effectiveness of marketing since there is no agreed criteria against which performance can be judged. Individual fee earners and the marketing department too may point to 'successes' but are such 'successes' in accordance with the firm's strategy?
A key aspect of such a marketing plan is a clear agreement on priorities; this is essential to get the necessary level of focus. In practical terms very few firms, the exceptions being perhaps the true niche practices, have the resources to pursue simultaneously every marketing opportunity. The real danger lies in attempting to do so; the almost inevitable result is a very high level of activity but a very low level of result.
